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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

(Exclusive Report) Culture Kalash in Pakistan

By Oscar Rickett (The Observer)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

(Photo : Set adrift: at the top of the Bumboret valley looking toward Afghanistan. Photographs: Oscar Rickett for the Observer, Pakistan)

I am standing on a roof in the mountains of the Kalash valleys. Below me hundreds of men are screaming and shouting as two small wooden balls are hit up the slopes by opposing teams of players. Women in intricately designed, brightly coloured dresses are looking on, talking and laughing. One player draws back his long wooden club and hammers the ball onward. Cries of joy fill the air.

"What just happened?" I ask the player. "We cheated," he laughs. "The ball was lost in the snow so I took a ball from my pocket and hit that one. Don't tell the other team. If they knew, we would lose this point."

The ball flies on up the four-mile-long course, over rivers and up banks. That night, the winning team will sacrifice an ox, paid for by the losers. Everyone will get drunk. It is winter and there is not much to do. The game is chikik gal.

In February this year, the Taliban assassinated Pakistan's Christian minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti. He was the only politician representing the non-Muslim populations of Pakistan. His smallest ward was the Kalash, a 3,000-strong animist tribe living in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, in Pakistan's wild northwest frontier. A persistent myth tells of their descent from members of an errant division of Alexander the Great's army, which ripped through the mountains of northern Pakistan more than 2,000 years ago.

In Rudyard Kipling's time, the Kalash were known as the "black Kafirs" and their land was Kafiristan, the setting for his tale of insanity and idolatry, The Man Who Would be King. The "red Kafirs", their neighbours, the subjects of Kipling's story, were brutally converted at the end of the 19th century. They became Nuristanis, "enlightened ones", and their rugged mountain land is one of the centres of the war against the Taliban.

(Photo : The Kalash tribe is said to descend from Alexander the Great's army, but now it is fighting to preserve its traditions in a Taliban stronghold)

The Kalash live in three valleys (Bumboret, Birir and Rumbur) by the Afghan border in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In winter, flights to Chitral, the nearest town, are routinely and consistently cancelled without warning. My journey from Islamabad was by road, through Mardan and Dir up to the Lowari tunnel and then down the other side. In the winter, when the Lowari pass is blocked by snow, the tunnel is the only way of travelling to Chitral by road. Its construction began in 2005 and it is now open for a few hours every day. It is less a tunnel and more a 9km-long cave.

But in spite of the constant sense of peril it evokes, the tunnel is changing Chitral and the Kalash valleys. Previously, getting to the nearest city, Peshawar, meant a trip through Afghanistan. Now the tunnel brings supplies from the rest of the country. With access comes fear. "Extremists use the tunnel to come here," says Taj Udeen, a local police commander. "We have to make sure we know who is coming to our district."

They certainly knew we were coming. Tourism has dropped off steeply since 9/11 – in the 1990s thousands of people visited Chitral annually, now that figure is below 100 – and we were among few outsiders to visit the Kalash valleys in the past year. Desperate to make sure nothing happened to our four-strong team, 10 armed policemen accompanied us. We spent a month in the valleys. They never left our side.

For centuries, the Kalash have been fighting to preserve their traditions. People are converted to Islam every year. "Extremist Muslims prey on weak people and create internal divisions," Imran Kabir, a Kalasha polymath (he reveals that he is, variously, a butcher, teacher, writer and junkyard owner) tells me.

A policeman stands outside the Bashali, the house of menstruation and childbirth.

A local teacher, Akbal Shah, recounts the story of his father, who worked as a frontier policeman and converted to Islam because he was the only Kalash man in an all-Muslim unit. "He was not educated, so they said to him that if he didn't convert he wouldn't go to heaven. He ended up believing them because he didn't want to stand out. The Muslims are a big majority, they are pressing us everywhere." Deathbed conversions are common and people talk of being offered wives and money if they convert. When I interviewed one of the local imams, Nasir Abdul, at his newly built mosque, he spoke of the love he has for the Kalash people before going on to say that he "hopes they will convert to Islam so that they can go to paradise". He is a friendly man who does not pay people to convert, but his objective is the same: the end of the Kalasha religion.

Not all Muslims in the area feel this way. One convert who everyone calls "Mullah" tells me: "Everyone should be free to believe what they like." And while Muslims are not allowed to convert to the Kalash religion, men like Mullah participate in Kalash festivals and rituals in a way that makes you believe that if they could convert back, they would.

(Photo : Kalash Tribe in Kafiristan group of girls dancing what a beauty)

Wali Khan, the Kalash headmaster of a primary school in Bumboret valley and a charismatic and popular figure, has worked tirelessly to improve the standards of schooling in the valleys (until the 1990s, there were no official schools). His family is typical in that two of his three brothers have converted to Islam (the one who hasn't is confusingly nicknamed Mujahideen). He tells me that for "two years my brother was living like an imam. But then he got bored and now he is drinking and smoking and dancing!" Drinking means the local moonshine, tara, which tastes like schnapps, or homemade wine, which tastes like sherry. Kalash dealers routinely and illegally sell both drinks to Muslims.

The Kalasha Dur, built by a Dutch NGO.

Another source of tension is the aid that the Kalash receive from NGOs and the government. At the centre of this controversy is the Kalasha Dur – a museum, small hospital, library, hostel and school complex for the Kalash (which Muslims cannot attend), housed within an absurdly Greek-looking palace built by the NGO Greek Volunteers, with help from Greece's government body Hellenic Aid. Greek Volunteers's director, Athanasios Lerounis, a long-time champion of the Kalash and the man who raised the money to build the centre, assures me that though there are "similarities to the Ionic style", the building came from "the local architecture". The attempted olive growing that goes on is, however, more likely to be an ancient tradition of Athens.

In 2009, a Taliban unit stole into the valleys at night and kidnapped Lerounis. They had been tipped off by locals sympathetic to their cause and came to the Kalasha Dur during a night when only two security guards were posted. One guard fled while the other stood his ground and was killed. Lerounis was taken swiftly across the Afghan border to Nuristan. The Greek teacher's ransom, thought to be up to £1m, was paid and he returned to Greece. The security services will not let him return to Pakistan because they believe his presence in the country is dangerous. Lerounis, who wants to come back to the valleys, tells me he does not want to talk about the kidnapping because doing so would endanger the Kalash people. Whatever they think of the Taliban's policies, the Kalash stress their neutrality: they are too vulnerable to court trouble.

The kidnapping highlights the security risk presented by the lavish Greek building: in a small, rural community, it sticks out. Locals say that there is a Taliban plot to blow up the Kalasha Dur. The building's detractors say that the exclusion of Muslims from the school only adds to the resentment felt by those who feel that the Kalash get too much money from outsiders.

(Photo : Kalash delegation with Sarah Cheema an organizer IYCF. The IYCF was first ever international conference which was held in Islamabad at PNCA. Names of Kalash delegation who were participated in this event are Luke Rehmat, Jamal Bibi, Missro Khunza and Natija, Pakistan)

Wali Khan used to work with Lerounis compiling a Kalasha alphabet, but left because he didn't like the division the Kalasha Dur had created. "The Kalash and the Muslims have to get along; they have to live side by side," he says. "So why make a school in which only one kind of person can be taught?" Lerounis argues that the school was built in response to a need highlighted by the Kalash community: "I asked them what they wanted and they told me they needed a school… There are many Muslim schools and many madrasas. The Kalash need this. There is a division because of their tradition, not because of our building."

The Kalasha Dur's first-aid centre treats Muslims, and Greek Volunteers have also built Muslim schools and secured a clean-water supply that is used by everyone. Yet the suspicion remains that they do as much harm as good. Imran Kabir believes that Lerounis created a culture of dependence so that in the end people "treated him like a God". Instead of praying to their maker, Kabir told me, they would pray to Lerounis. Since he has been gone, the Kalash have started helping themselves again, something Lerounis would probably approve of.

Nabaig (like Prince, he has no second name) is the first Kalash lawyer. He works in Chitral and, when he is in court, wears a suit and tie that makes you think of Reservoir Dogs. Back in the valleys, in his traditional clothes, he tells me that the United Nations Development Programme money that comes to the valleys "goes in the pockets of the politicians and higher personalities". The same is said of the international money that came to the country to help relieve flooding in 2010.

"None of the money came to us," says Nabaig, who points out that food is now twice the price as a result.

Almost all accounts of the Kalash fixate on the tribe's mythological descent from Alexander the Great. The romance of Alexander's tribe is a key part of Kalash tourism, although "they did a DNA test and they found no connection" is a familiar refrain here. Lerounis calls the area an "open museum"; the valleys' reputation as a Garden of Eden, a lost land of innocent people, meant that a summer stop to see the Kalash used to be an adventurous part of the hippie trail. But another form of tourism has developed: young Muslim men from the south, deprived of contact with women their own age, come here to chat up Kalash girls and watch them dance.

A girl in Birir wearing a traditional Kalash headdress.

The government has a confused relationship with the Kalash. Wali Khan says it "protects the Kalash people very well now because we are a unique culture". But there is also worry that this kind of cultural tourism can be exploitative. Abdul Sattar, a village elder who has converted to Islam, tells me that "before, when I was Kalash, I was very happy. But the government and people from the rest of Pakistan were coming here and making us dance and perform. I became a Muslim because I couldn't enjoy performing for outsiders."

(Photo : Kalash People’s Development Network is started organizing indigenous community to organize IWSF 2012. It aims to promote and conserve traditional sports of Kalash valleys. IWSF is the first-ever designed event to work for promotion and sustainable development of winter tourism in Chitral region, Pakistan)

The government's press office in Islamabad sent out a string of mixed messages, telling me the trip was "very dangerous" yet repeatedly talking about how wonderful the Kalash were and how thrilled the government was to see journalists coming to the country to cover something other than the war with the Taliban. The constitution protects minorities and the law safeguards the customs of the Kalash. This is how Nabaig wins most of his cases, which involve Kalash alcohol and drug traffickers and disputes between Islamic and Kalash property laws. Still, the lawyer remains unconvinced by the authorities. "I am worried about what is happening because we are isolated. We are in the minority. We are worried that our traditions won't survive."

This survival is being safeguarded in interesting ways. There has been a concerted effort in recent years to reproduce as much as possible in order to bolster numbers. That way, if a couple of the children end up being converted, the pain will be less sharp. And, in the end, it is this spirit that will see the Kalash through. Free-minded and intensely aware of their "unique culture" they appear to be getting stronger rather than weaker. New roads and new technology often kill cultures such as theirs but the opposite seems to be true.

That they have had problems moving from a barter economy to a monetary one cannot be denied and that their traditional dependence on goats is becoming less valuable is also true, but the Kalash are using their increased contact with the outside world to educate others. Their language has, for the first time, been put into a written form (they use the English alphabet). Nabaig, who is 29, says that his generation is "very keen to be Kalash, to preserve our culture. With trade we are gaining facilities. We are feeding our families". One Kalash teenager told me his culture "was over". Almost all his friends contradicted him. Those who go to the big cities to work want to return to the valleys. One of the village kasis ("guardians of knowledge") told me that now "education is very good. When I was younger there were no schools, no roads and no Jeeps. We had no clothes. We had no shoes. Now it is better." The Kalash are learning about their culture in order to preserve it. As we look out over the valley and up to Afghanistan, Imran Kabir looks up and says: "The future is bright. The dark ages are gone."

To Know more about Kalash community in Pakistan , visit below link :-

Unique Kalash Community under threat in Pakistan
http://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com/2011/03/unique-kalash-community-under-threat-in.html

NOTE-The Post believes in The phrase like God is one : but its called by different names or Sanskrit saying , Vasudhaiv Kutumbikam, “the world is one family” On behafh of (PHP) Mr Gopinath Kumar appeal to whole Hindu Society to unite,defend Sanatan Dharama and equality for everyone regardless of Caste ,Creed,Nation and Ethnicity.

APPEAL FOR HELP :

*PHP is also link with social org. in Pakistan and India,who are working for betterment of Hindu Community.So please HELP us in any way.

Following the creation of Pakistan, and the subsequent mass migrations, Hindus today have a much smaller numerical presence. Nonetheless Hindus have played a major role in the history, culture and politics of the country.

The term Hindu is etymologically derived from the Sindhu (Indus River) of Pakistan. The Sindhu is one of the holy rivers of Hinduism. Thus, in many ways, the land which is today's predominantly Muslim Pakistan has played an important part in the origin of Hinduism. In terms of population, Pakistan has the fifth largest population of Hindus.

WHO IS PAKISTANI HINDU ?

A Pakistani Hindu is a person who professes faith in the principles of the holy Vedas.Pakistani Hindu culture is the world's oldest culture and it is the indigenous culture of Pakistan.

Hinduism, once the main religion in present day Pakistan, has endured many invasions, migrations, conquests and settlement of many tribes and ethnic groups.

Ancient Ages

The Sindh kingdom and its rulers play an important role in the Indian epic story of the Mahabharata. In addition, there is the legend that the Pakistani city of Lahore was first founded by Lava, while Kasur was founded by his twin Kusha, both of whome were the sons of Rama of the Ramayana. The Gandhara kingdom of the northwest, and the legendary Gandhara peoples are also a major part of Hindu literature such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Most Pakistani city names (such as Peshawar, Multan) can be traced back to Sanskrit roots.

Under Islamic and British Rule

People in this region were exposed to Islamic teachings through the sufis and later when the regions came under the control of various Muslim rulers. Alberuni states in his book, that some Hindus who were forced to become Muslims, were not accepted back into their community, when they escaped to places like Varanasi. He in fact laments, that due to Islamic conquests, many great Hindu scholars left this region. In over one thousand years of Muslim rule in the Punjab and Sindh, the population of Muslims outpaced the growth of Hinduism (Buddhism had virtually disappeared) due to conversion and slavery.

Demography

In August 1947, at the end of British Raj, the population percentage of Hindus in what is today in Pakistan was perhaps as high as 15-20%, but would drop to its current total of 2% in the years since independence. According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, caste Hindus constitute about 1.6 percent of the total population of Pakistan and about 6.6% in province of Sindh. The Pakistan Census separates Schedule Castes from the main body of Hindus who make up a further 0.25% of national population.

Hinduism and Partition

When Pakistan was formed in August 1947, over 7 million Hindus and Sikhs from what was East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and Pakistan's Punjab, Sindh and North-West Frontier Province provinces were forced to leave this new state for India, and a similar number of Muslims chose the other way. The reasons for this incredible exodus was the heavily charged communal atmosphere in British India, deep distrust of each other, the brutality of violent mobs and the antagonism between the religious communities. The fact that over 1 million people lost their lives in the bloody violence of 1947, should attest to the fear and hate that filled the hearts of millions of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs who had to leave ancestral homes during hastily arranged partition.

Post-1970s

Since Pakistan declared itself an Islamic nation and pursued a decidedly Islamic course in its political and social life since the 1980s, Hindus as a minority in Pakistan have had considerably fewer privileges, rights and protections in comparison to minorities in India, which constitutionally avows itself secular and giving of equal rights to its religious minorities including the Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities.

Religious, social and political institutions

The communal violence of the 1940s and the subsequent persecutions have resulted in the destruction of thousands of Hindu temples in Pakistan, although the Hindu community and the Pakistani government have preserved and protected many prominent ones. The Hindu Gymkhana in Karachi has tried to promote social development for Hindus in the city. One of the few temples remaining in Karachi today is the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Karachi.

Hindus are allotted separate electorates to vote by, but their political importance is virtually nil. The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat and the Pakistani Hindu Welfare Association are the primary civic organizations that represent and organize Hindu communities on social, economic, religious and political issues. There are minority commissions and for a while, a Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Government of Pakistan looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities.

The future for Pakistani Hindus

The increasing Islamisation of Pakistan and antagonism against a majority Hindu. Pakistan has forced many Hindus to leave Hinduism and convert to Islam. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities. The promulgation of Sharia, Quranic law has also increased the marginalization of Hindus and other minorities. Following the destruction in 1992 of the Babri Mosque in India, riots and persecution of Hindus in retaliation has only increased; Hindus in Pakistan are routinely affected by communal incidents in India and violent developments on the Kashmir conflict between the two nations. It remains the hope of many that a permanent peace between the two nations will go a long way in making life better for the roughly 8 million Hindus living in Pakistan. The 1998 census recorded 2,443,614 Hindus in Pakistan. Reports from Pakistan indicate that Hindu minorities under Taliban rule in Swat are being forced to wear Red headgear such as turbans to make it easier for the Islamic militants to target them for discrimination. In light of these deprivations, Pakistani Hindu minorities have started fleeing to India.

(The Decline of Hinduism , Buddhism and Sikhism in the areas that now constitute the new country of Pakistan which was formed in 1947 happened for a variety of reasons, and even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan, these Dharmic religions have continued to dwindle in Pakistan)

**************************** "Pakistan will provide its minorities an ample field for the outlet of their genius and they should come forward and play their role as true citizens in making Pakistan one of the greatest nations"Quaid-e-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnah (11th August 1947)محمد علی جناح "You are free; Hindus are free to go to your temples, Muslims are free to go to your mosques, or to any other places of worship in the State of Pakistan".We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State"*****************************NO HINDU HUMAN RIGHTS IN PAKISTANHindu Minority in Pakistan lack options and hope

There is a lack of awareness across the world about the very existence of a significant yet dwindling Hindu community in Pakistan. Presently it is estimated that Hindus make up 2% of Pakistan’s population. This is at least five times the number of Hindus in Britain.

Before the end of colonial rule in 1947, the land that was to become Pakistan had a large proportion of Hindus, accounting for over 26% of the population. The Partition of India was the biggest forced migration of people in human history, and was accompanied by large scale massacres. During this period, the population of Hindus dropped to 15% in this region.

Even though there was heavy risk, many Hindus chose to remain in their ancestral homeland and were promised protection by the Government of Pakistan. However in practice, Hindus found it very difficult to live in Pakistan, where they were very vulnerable and often subject to persecution.

There was a constant level of crime and harassment against Hindus in Pakistan. The constitution and legal system that was framed for the new country openly discriminated against Hindus. During periods of tension between India and Pakistan, Hindus were killed and expelled in large numbers. In 1965 a law was passed that openly incited and legitimised confiscation of Hindu property. This was called “The Enemy Property Act”. Therefore the Hindu population steadily dropped.

During 1970 and 1971, huge massacres were perpetrated upon Hindus, by the Pakistani army. A proper study into the casualty figures has never been conducted. Estimates for the number dead are up to 3 million. Millions of Hindu women were raped and kidnapped in this period. It was one of the largest massacres in recent history, and also one of the most ignored.

In 1977, General Zia ul-Haq led a military coup in Pakistan. He introduced Islamic Law, which further excluded and marginalised Hindus.

In 1989 and 1992 over 300 Hindu temples were destroyed. Many Hindus lost their homes. The largest outward migration of Hindus from Pakistan since Partition took place during these years.

Unbelievable as it may seem, Hindus still exist in Pakistan, numbering over 2.5 million. The Hindu population is largest in the Sindh province, but there are Hindu communities dotted all over Pakistan. They suffer constant threats against their security, property and lives. Hindus in Pakistan have to live a very low profile existence, and have to put up with many insults to their honour and dignity, with no legal safeguards. They authorities in the country rarely intervene to help Hindus, and often make matters worse. There are regular reports of kidnapping of Hindu women and children, looting of Hindu property, and other forms of discrimination, persecution and dehumanisation.

Unfortunately the international media and human rights groups do not take much of an interest in all this. Together with the apathy of the general public around the world, this has meant that the Hindus of Pakistan remain a forgotten and voiceless people. The brutality that has been melted out to the Hindus in Pakistan knows few parallels in history.

(Until decent minded people across the world show concern for the fate of the helpless and speak out for those without a voice, there is little hope for the Hindu men, women and children who remain in Pakistan)

Introduction & Glory of Sanatana Dharama or (Hinduism)

Unlike other religions Sanatana Dharama (Hinduism) is not one person's invention.

There is no single medicine that can cure all deceases and ailments.Sanatana Dharama (Hinduism) is an accumulated treasury of spiritual and moral laws discovered by different saints over various periods.

In other words Sanatana Dharama (Hinduism) is like constitution of a country. Spiritual and moral laws are democratically accumulated over centuries. These laws are observed voluntarily by people without any governmental control.

In Sanatana Dharama You don't need to practice exactly what your forefathers practiced. Those practices may be good only for that period (Yuga Dharma)

One can be an atheist or an agnostic and still can be a Sanatani like me or like Sage Charvak (The atheist).

Sanatana Dharama allows criticizing or debating god's existence. Sanathana Dharma absorbs new ideas like a sponge and recharges itself with modern technology.

In Kindergarten or Nursery school you learn everything from one book from one teacher. In a Higher school you learn from several books from several teachers.

Sanatana Dharama is like a university. It doesn't have only one book like other religions have, it has collection of books covers various subjects and aspects.

There is no single medicine that can cure all deceases and ailments.

One must understand, it is impossible for one person to write religious doctrines for entire world and for future. If any one thinks that one person can do it they are fooling themselves.

Muslim emperors ruled India for seven hundred years. The British ruled India for two hundred years. Some joined Islam through force. The Muslim emperors and the British were not able to convert the whole of India. Still the glory of Hinduism persists. The culture of Hinduism prevails. Nothing can shake its greatness and root.

Hinduism is neither asceticism nor illusionism, neither polytheism nor pantheism. It is a synthesis of all types of religious experiences. It is a whole and complete view of life. It is characterized by wide toleration, deep humanity and high spiritual purpose. It is free from fanaticism. That is the reason why it has survived the attacks of the followers of other great religions of the world.

Hinduism is extremely catholic, liberal, tolerant and elastic. No religion is so very elastic and tolerant like Hinduism. Hinduism is very stern and rigid regarding the fundamentals. It is very elastic in readjusting to the externals and non-essentials. That is the reason why it has succeeded in living through millennia.

The foundation of Hinduism has been laid on the bedrock of spiritual truths. The entire structure of Hindu life is built on eternal truths, the findings of the Hindu Rishis or seers. That is the reason why this structure has lasted through scores of centuries.

Hinduism stands unrivaled in the depth and grandeur of its philosophy. Its ethical teachings are lofty, unique and sublime. It is highly flexible and adapted to every human need. It is a perfect religion by itself. It is not in need of anything from any other religion. No other religion has produced so many great saints, great patriots, great warriors, great Pativratas (chaste women devoted to their husbands). The more you know of the Hindu religion, the more you will honour and love it. The more you study it, the more it will enlighten you and satisfy your heart.

Is Blasphemy Law in Pakistan giving Religious/Social persecution to Minorities ?

What could be the future of Pakistani Minority (Hindu Community)?

Which is the biggest Temple/Mandir in Karachi City, Pakistan ?

Introduction to Sacred-Texts : Hinduism

The Vedas

There are four Vedas, the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Traditionally the text of the Vedas was coeval with the universe. Scholars have determined that the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas, was composed about 1500 B.C., and codified about 600 B.C. It is unknown when it was finally committed to writing, but this probably was at some point after 300 B.C.

The Vedas contain hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient India. Along with the Book of the Dead, the Enuma Elish, the I Ching, and the Avesta, they are among the most ancient religious texts still in existence. Besides their spiritual value, they also give a unique view of everyday life in India four thousand years ago. The Vedas are also the most ancient extensive texts in an Indo-European language, and as such are invaluable in the study of comparative linguistics.

Upanishads

The Upanishads are a continuation of the Vedic philosophy, and were written between 800 and 400 B.C. They elaborate on how the soul (Atman) can be united with the ultimate truth (Brahman) through contemplation and mediation, as well as the doctrine of Karma-- the cumulative effects of a persons' actions.

Puranas

The Puranas are post-Vedic texts which typically contain a complete narrative of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology and geography. There are 17 or 18 canonical Puranas, divided into three categories, each named after a deity: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. There are also many other works termed Purana, known as 'Upapuranas.'

The Epics

The Mahabharata and Ramayana are the national epics of India. They are probably the longest poems in any language. The Mahabharata, attributed to the sage Vyasa, was written down from 540 to 300 B.C. The Mahabharata tells the legends of the Bharatas, a Vedic Aryan group. The Ramayana, attributed to the poet Valmiki, was written down during the first century A.D., although it is based on oral traditions that go back six or seven centuries earlier. The Ramayana is a moving love story with moral and spiritual themes that has deep appeal in India to this day.

In addition, a key Hindu sacred text, the Bhagavad Gita, is embedded in Book Six of the Mahabharata.

Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita, usually considered part of the sixth book of the Mahabharata (dating from about 400 or 300 B.C.), is a central text of Hinduism, a philosphical dialog between the god Krishna and the warrior Arjuna. This is one of the most popular and accessible of all Hindu scriptures, required reading for anyone interested in Hinduism. The Gita discusses selflessness, duty, devotion, and meditation, integrating many different threads of Hindu philosophy.